The Eagle's Eye; Issue 2; Volume 19; Akins High School

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How Akins handles Grief Students,staff learn how to cope with loss Pages 12-13

Inside: News- 4-6 Opinions- 7-9 Entertainment 10-11, 14-15 Indepth 12-13 Sports 16-18 Life & Style 19-22,24 Photo Essay 22-23

news: cbd myths explained...........................................................6 Entertainment: Adobe flash shutdown.............................15 Sports: Cheerleading insight......................................................17 Photo essay: Portables Predicament..........................22-23

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Quick reads

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Chili

Chili

Editors Editor-in-chief

news

Opinions

entertainment

Mylo Bissell Ash Catalan

Mylo Bissell

Austin Rutledge

Anneliese Olivo

In depth

Life & Style

Photo

Dee Carreon

Andrew Martinez

Amora Arriaga

sports Diego Gutierrez

staff writers Frank Duran Natalia Salazar Angel Hernandez Oscar Navarro Robert Ramos Zachary Reyna Diego Rivas

Akins at Large

The Akins Eagles band practices their marches in cold and rainy weather. They have been practicing since July. Photo by Amora Arriaga.

ILPC/UIL

HONORS

Bronze Star Award 2007 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Silver Star Award 2019

NSPA

Jamie Bain Tera Braly Joshua Guerrero Julian Medrano Ben Naden Alondra Mondragon Saul Moreno

Jaime Rios Hanniel Cruz Victoria Garza Evelyn Moreno Kayden Harnett Gregory Roque Rhett Moore Enrique Camacho

The Eagle’s Eye TAJE

Superior Coverage 2005 2008

the learning process or is an invasion of privacy. We will avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a

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before publication. We will not necessarily publish all letters received and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. businesses.

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Editorial Policy

calender

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Autumn Bonfire Columbus Empanada England

Gravy Harvest Leaves Mofongo Orchard

Pumpkin Scarecrow Sweater Thanksgiving Turkey

Puzzle created with PuzzleFast.com. Answer key on Akinseagleseye.com

News

The Eagle’s Eye

November 11, 2019

Page 4

New early college high academy added to programs Rito Pineada Staff Writer

. Charles Akins Early College High School.

It’s that “Early College” part that is new and unfamiliar to Akins students even though it is part of the school’s new name since the beginning of the school year.

Currently, there are only about 160 people on campus who are actually part of this early college program and who really know what this means. They are the students and staff that make up the Early College Academy at Akins.

An Early College High School is an official designation by the Texas Education Agency, which recognizes innovative campuses that offer students to earn a high school diploma and 60 college credit hours.

They do this by providing provide dual credit at no cost to students, offering rigorous instruction and accelerated courses. They also provide academic and social support services to help students succeed, increase college readiness and reduce barriers to college access.

There are currently six other early college programs in Austin ISD and as of 2019, there are about 160 schools across Texas that have the early college program.

Currently, there are about 157 freshmen enrolled in the Akins Early College program.

The academy will add all of the other grades a year at a time until it has its first graduating class in 2023. If the students stick to the program, they will graduate from high school with 60 college credit hours.

Kevin Edwards, the program’s coordinator, said he believes the program will help these students find work and pursue four-year college degrees because they will have completed a demanding program of study while in high school. ”One of the challenges is that it's they have to be really disciplined,” Edwards said.

“And some of the challenges is that they may not be able to do a lot of other things outside of school.”

Students in the program have limited spots in their schedule for elective classes, but they have at least one open spot every year in which they can select an elective of their choice.

Edwards said that students in the program need to be committed.

“They need to be a self-starter motivated and mature,” he said. “They need to be a

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Kayden Harnett

Hard at work

Students work during Elisha Aldana's 5th Period Pre-AP Algebra class. All freshmen that belong to the Early College High School program must take Pre-AP core classes.

person who can organize their time.”

Some of the benefits are that it prepares students for college life and to have a college-bound mentally. It also helps parents get in touch with a college and to negotiate.

Freshman Arianna Mendez said she occasionally struggles with the high expectations and demands on her time.

“I don't like it is how they give me high expectations. They expect me to do more than what I'm capable of. Because I'm still a kid. I'm not fully there yet.”

Mendez does like the opportunities that the program offers.

“What I love about the program is that it gives me more of an opportunity to look at different paths that I can take along the way.” she said.

In the Know

New College and Career Adviser introduces herself to Akins community

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native Austinite, Annette Gutierrez, graduated from Crockett High School before attending Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, earning a bachelor’s degree in Biology.

Excited to return home, she earned her teacher’s certificate and began teaching science at McCallum High School. In her second year of teaching, Gutierrez was asked to teach AVID and shortly after was asked to serve as the campus AVID Coordinator.

In taking on the role, Gutierrez realized how passionate she was about helping students and their families in her home community navigate the barriers to getting into and completing college. With that she earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership - Higher Education Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Shortly after Gutierrez accepted the role of Pre-Health Professions Advisor at St. Mary’s University where two of her most proud pieces of work

were coordinating the Pre-Health Professions Preceptorship, matching hopeful students with a doctor or dentist to intern with for a semester, and expanding the Pre-Health Professions Career Conference. She also taught First-Year Seminar.

At Texas State University, Gutierrez served as the Supplemental Instruction (SI) STEM Coordinator where she over saw STEM SI Tutors, advised students on study skills, and taught First-Year Seminar.

Gutierrez is coming to Akins from her role as the GEAR UP Facilitator at Bedichek Middle school where she helps students and families start to think and prepare for post-secondary education plans.

Gutierrez is very honored to be stepping into the role as Project Advance Coordinator at Akins High School and to be helping families once again from her home community navigate the post-secondary planning process.

News

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The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

SSS offers unique services to address student needs ALondra Rodriguez Staff Writer

or more than 10 years, Akins’ Student Support Services program has served thousands of students in need of counseling services.

It’s a program that is unique to Akins and originated in 2006 from an identified need for mental health and financial support services to students. At the time campus administrators applied for a grant that funded the program for two years.

When the funding for the grant ran out in 2008, campus administration saw the benefits that having a social worker on staff provided. Principal Daniel Girard then decided to fund the program out of campus discretionary funds to ensure that the SSS was able to continue to provide services to students.

Colleen Arnold served at the campus social worker and head of the SSS for 10 years before Meg Scamardo took over as the head of the program in 2018. The counseling program Akins offers is different than that of many of the others offered at Austin ISD high schools because all services are free, voluntary and confidential.

“I don't think that there's ever too much mental health support that we can provide at schools and provide to students,” Scamardo said.

Besides one-on-one counseling services the SSS also provides support group meetings during FIT that focus on specific topics. It also provides assistance to students who lack stable housing.

“During FIT, there are group meetings that range form LGBTQ, anger management, ... girl empowerment, ... pregnancy,” Scamardo said.

At other Austin ISD high schools, mental health counseling services are largely provided through an outside contractor called Vida Clinic.

Vida Clinic is a mental health agency in Austin specializing in school mental health. Vida’s goal is to use clinical assessment instruments collaboratively with clients as tools for creating a healing experience and helping clients to know themselves better. Vida Clinic provides services at more than 40 Austin ISD schools today, ranging from elementary to middle to high schools.

A recent Washington Post article described the services provided by Vida Clinic in Austin ISD, focusing specifically on Crockett High School, where the partnership began. At these other

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campuses, therapists have their offices within schools, where they treat students directly rather than assessing and referring them elsewhere.

“Even just as awareness about mental health grows, ... it requires more support, ... I think Vida Clinic ... and school-based mental health centers are amazing,” Scamardo said.

The goal of introducing school-based mental health centers to Austin schools was to prove that by having therapists on campus they could provide accessible, trauma-informed mental health care that can significantly aid students struggling with depression, anxiety and other trauma-induced conditions.

In late 2017, Austin ISD secured $4.5 million of state funding through the Victim of Crimes Act to open Vida Clinics at 22 elementary schools in some of Austin’s highest crime areas.

District officials believed that children living in high-risk areas are more likely to be exposed to traumatic events and that their schools need to responsive in meeting their mental health needs.

Many schools’ mental health professionals typically do not have the capacity or professional training to aid students suffering from severe mental health issues. Instead, struggling students often are assessed before being referred to an outside therapist.

According to The Washington Post, Vida Clinics provides data that shows the difference their program makes for students.

In 2017, it compared nearly 800 of its clients to a control group of over 300 of their peers, who were also identified with mental health and behavioral issues.

Suspensions among Vida’s clients dropped by nearly 10 percent, aggressive behavior offenses and substance abuse violations dropped, and expulsions were cut in half.

High school clients’ GPA was 20 percent higher than their control groups.

The SSS at Akins also records data for the services it provides. During the last school year, the SSS completed 219 referrals, offered 305 students individual counseling, provided 61 students group counseling and provided 47 students with ongoing individual counseling.

Scamardo said she values the work that Vida Clinic is doing in Austin ISD, but she would also like the community to know more about the impact that school social workers can have.

580

total referrals for students to attend or

551

utilize their services.

students received individual counseling as needed

151

47

students received group counseling services

“I wish I saw (other principals) making social workers a part of their budget, just like all their teachers, you know,” Scamardo said. “And it's just hard with budget constraints and not understanding what social workers do.”

Principal Tina Salazar sees the importance of the office. " This office has become an institution here and honestly we cannot and will never be able to function without this office." She said.

Vida is contracted for specific services they are always going to have those contracts as limitations on what staff can or cannot do to help students. With the SSS, they don’t have those kind of limitations becaause Scamardo reports only to the principal not an outside manager at a clinic.

Also, the AISD crisis protocol requires

students received ongoing individual counseling

an AISD employee to assess for student’s safety and support if a student is in crisis.

Since community-based health center employees are contracted individuals, they are unable to assist with the crisis protocol.

Besides counseling Scamardo also participates in things like family meetings, peer student meditation and helping the homeless students on campus.

The SSS is able to multiply its power by utilizing adult volunteers that are studying to be mental health professionals.

"Sometimes there's issues that require a different kind of expertise and training... my background and the interns that I work with, they're studying to be mental health professionals, so we are licensed, trained and educated to do therapy." Scamardo said.

News

The Eagle’s Eye

November 11, 2019

Page 6

EE Explains: What's the CBD craze? Are there benefits?

Natalia esperanza

Why is it popular?

Staff Writer

hile perusing the aisles at the local corner store, there is a good chance that you have encountered various “CBD-infused” products, ranging from soda to lip balm.

CBD (short for cannabidiol) is a non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant, and it has become a popular additive to a slew of consumer products.

CBD has existed for decades but it has just recently gained popularity because of various celebrities and some medical professionals that have begun promoting it as a cure for a variety of ailments. And there is now a booming industry of companies working to cash in on its potential health benefits. However, many of these health benefits are either overblown and unproven.

The Eagle’s Eye is breaking down a few of the common questions that people have about CBD products.

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This product is so popular because they believe the claims of medical benefits that are touted by the producers of these products. Many famous celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Aniston, Mandy Moore, and more have promoted these products and this helped to spread the word out about CBD. There are some doctors that believe there are benefits, but there is little evidence that actually proves the many claims that are made. Because the popularity of CBD products is increasing every year, many analysts think that consumer’s product sales are expected to surpass $1 billion by 2020.

What is it?

What are the “benefits”?

The cannabidiol or CBD is a compound derived directly from the hemp plant which is a cousin of the Marijuana plant. Even though it comes from this plant, by itself, it does produce a “high” in consumers. Proponents of CBD say the plant interacts works with receptors in the human brains which may produce medical benefits.

There are products that claim to be treatments for many nervous systems and immune systems like pain, anxiety, depression, stress, muscle spasms, digestive issues, acne, and skin ailments. One in three pet owners gives them to their dogs or cats and it has also been classified as a treatment for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s.

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Misconception: Storebought CBD products are a proven treatment for (insert ailment here) Truth: There is not enough research to say that CBD can fix many of the things it is claimed to be a fix for.

What products contain CBD?

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Misconception: CBD products contain what they claim Truth: Few regulations have been put in place for this product and only one, a seizure medication, has been approved by the FDA. This leads to a lot of products containing more than CBD and sometimes THC.

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Misconception: CBD is totally legal Truth: Federally speaking CBD is still illegal but the laws vary state to state. Texas has legalized hemp for agricultural and industrial purposes which has lead to the craze.

What are the problems?

Some problems and concerns with CBD products are that it can increase blood pressure for taking extreme amounts of CBD, allergies and the most important is that the product has to be checked before consuming. There have been problems where more than a quarter of products contained less CBD than labeled.

In addition, THC was found.

-CBD oils -Candles, hemp flower -Topical cream, lotions, bath booms.

-Gummies, chocolate, candy, gum, food oils -Water, juice, tea, coffee, and sodas -CBD pet food and shampoos

CBD Misconsceptions

Interview with an alum: life after high school Hanniel Cruz Staff Writer

John Espinoza is an Akins 2014 graduate who now for a company doing global security research. The Eagle's Eye sent him a few questions to answer to find out about his journey after leaving high school.

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After high school, what were your plans?

I decided to attend Texas State University where I studied Political Science and Geography.

What were some of your biggest challenges?

I would say the biggest challenges I faced during my time in college was being a first-generation college student and a commuter student.

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How did you overcome these?

I overcame these challenges by getting involved on campus, finding mentors, and building a support system with fellow students who commute.

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What advice do you have for students who want to go to college?

During my Junior year at Texas State, I had the opportunity to be a peer mentor where I worked with freshman students who were just starting college. While everyone's situation is different, here is some general advice that could be applicable both in preparing for and while in college.

1) Find a mentor.

2) LOOK for opportunities, they rarely come to you.

3) Utilize your school's resources. They're there to help you, make them work!

4) It's ok to ask for help.

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Where did you see yourself in 5 years from now?

I hope to attend Harvard Law School in a few years and I plan to serve my community in a public service position either on the local or national level.

Are you proud of your decisions?

I would say yes. While I have not ‘bat a thousand’ when it comes to decisions, I’ve learned that every decision provides an opportunity for self-reflection to prepare for the next decision.

John Espinosa

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Ash Co-Editor-in-Chief

Opinions

Page 7

Mylo Co-Editor-in-Chief

Amora Photo Editor

Austin Opinions Editor

Dee InDepth Editor

Andrew Life & Style Editor

Anneliese Entertainment Editor

Diego Sports Editor

Editorial: Overcrowded OnRamps classes causes stress hen counselors and teachers pitch OnRamps courses to students, it is often described as a “soft start” to college. It’s an attractive proposition to many students who like the idea of earning college credit for free without having to leave their high school campus. These dual credit courses are taught by Akins teachers so they are not as scary to take as those taught by college professors.

According to the OnRamps website, these courses were designed “to replicate a rigorous, college-level learning experience and to meet postsecondary standards of quality, depth, and complexity.” Recently, OnRamps courses have become more popular in some ways than AP courses because there is no additional high-stakes test that determines if you earn the credit.

However, recently we have observed cases in which some OnRamps classes are overcrowded and students are being prevented from dropping despite legitimate reasons for their requests.

We believe that improvements can be made to the OnRamps program to ensure that students are benefiting from this valuable program while avoiding unnecessary stress and hassles. Among the student body, OnRamps appears to have taken the status of the popular class to take among high-achieving students. This popularity means that there are many other students signing up for these classes because they feel social pressure to be with the other “smart kids.”

Inevitably, students often find out that

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Tera Braly

they are not prepared to take OnRamps within the first few days or weeks of the class.

When they attempt to drop these courses, these students encounter obstacles that prevents them from easily leaving the class.

But we need to treat advanced academic classes differently.

The “advanced academic contracts” are another area of concern because we feel that more time and effort needs to be made more clear and fair for students who are experi-

encing this kind of experience. Many members of the editorial board in OnRamps are unaware of signing these contracts.

One solution we suggest administrators consider is putting a cap on OnRamps courses. This may not be plausible but capping the class at 25 students allows for better support in classes. When in a class of 30 plus it can be intimidating to ask or answer questions. It makes you feel like the only one who isn’t getting it. A solution is creating a way for prospective students to hear

all sides of a class. Yes, we want to show the best of these courses and set an example but in all reality, not many kids are the type to have stellar time management skills.

Currently, OnRamps courses don’t have space for students to trip and fall. And when it happens and a student wants out, it can have a negative effect on students and on OnRamps classes as a whole. However, these are fixable problems that can benefit students with some tweaks and adjustments to these valuable courses.

What is a staff editorial?

The Eagle’s Eye editorial board decides the positions taken in the staff editorials. The editorial board consists of the paper’s top editors. The editorials are not given a byline because editorials express the collective opinion of the board.

The topic of the editorial is discussed by the board and a position is voted on. When deciding on editorial opinions, majority rules, so most opinions reflect the vast majority of the opinions of the editorial board. The Editor-in-Chief has the final say if the group cannot come to consensus.

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Opinions

Page 8

College athletes demand they should be paid for play Diego Rivas Staff Writer

hen fans watch an NCAA college sports team on TV, it can be hard to distinguish it from a major league sporting event,with the broadcasts have all of the glitz, slick graphics and big-name sponsors. However, there is a big difference, the college players get paid nothing when they are in college.

This is because the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has strict rules that restrict college players from receiving payments from sponsors or the universities they play for. The result is a ridiculous situation in which players sometimes cannot afford basic necessities while they are in college because they are busy with college classes and playing sports.

Because the NCAA has refused to change the rules, some states are getting into the middle of the controversy by passing laws to benefit student-athletes.

On September 30, 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in California, allow-

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ing college athletes to sign endorsement contracts that will allow them to profit off from their image and skills.

This new bill called “Fair Pay to Play Act” goes into effect January of2023, but it’s something that many athletes are looking forward to. California universities that do not comply with the law will be banned from participating in competitions. The NCAA board of governors wrote a letter to the Governor of California saying that this bill would erase the line between college athletics and professional league, giving those universities the ability to recruit play-

ers, which will result in the prohibition of California schools to participate in NCAA competitions.

In a surprise announcement on October 29, the NCAA announced that it will consider making an adjustment in its rules to allow college students monetize their image, name and likeness under a “collegiate model,” meaning that the board of directors and the NCAA are starting to feel that pressure of the critics over so many years. According to an article from The Washington Post, NCAA officials said the issues will not be solved overnight, and it will go on for several years until they come up with a verdict. I think that this announcement was nonsense and a waste of time.

Instead, the NCAA should spend more time on coming up with regulations that state the boundary between professionals and students. According to an article from CNN, the NCAA brought over $1 billion dollars in revenue during the 2016-2017 school year. Meanwhile, NCAA universities around the US brought over $14 billion

dollars. Most of that money came from the Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament and football respectively.

That’s a ridiculous amount of money that the NCAA is refusing to share with the athletes when they are the ones putting their lives on the line. Many of these students go to sleep hungry and yet many universities have not taken action in order to change that. Even graduate students have been affected, including the famous college basketball player Ed O’Bannon who sued the NCAA for the use of his likeness in a video game.

Diana Taurasi, a player from the WNBA, claims that the University of Connecticut is still profiting off her image 15 years after she graduated. There is a simple solution to solve this. More states should pass laws like California until the NCAA gets the point that the current situation is unfair and just plain wrong. Students should be allowed to sign endorsement deals to get any type of compensation. Allow the students to profit off from their likeness so that they can push their way through college without the concern of not being able to afford their education, which in the end, is the most important thing.

District needs to provide more training to help LGBTQ Anonymous he Austin school district has made it a point of pride to tout its acceptance of members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer community.

The district supports the schools’ participation in the city’s annual pride parades in August and this year it promoted a week of campus pride activities at the campus level.

In September, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance welcomed students and promoting acceptance on campus by passing out support stickers and informative pamphlets.

Considering that members of the LGBTQ community often flock to Austin because of its liberal-minded politics, it’s no surprise that the school district here reflects the same beliefs and values. However, it would be bold to assume that all teachers and staff are trained to address the needs of LGBTQ students.

When a student chooses to come out or speak up about a problem regarding sexual orientation or gender identity, are teachers open-minded to it? Based on my experience, most teachers at Akins advocate for the rights and wellness of our LGBT+ students. Lastly, there is the unfortunate third category of teachers who are either uncomfortable or uneducated about transgenderism and homosexuality. Personally, I feel like I’ve gotten enough help when it came to coming out to the majority of the teachers I’ve had at Akins. It was a matter of talking to my counselor and send-

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ing out emails to the teachers I wanted to inform. Despite my efforts, this did not prevent all my teachers from using incorrect pronouns. Some did not follow up to clarify or discuss the fact that I used pronouns that did not match up with my school records.

This might just be because teachers in AISD haven’t been properly taught how to deal with transgender students, despite the majority of our staff claiming to be an ally. They may also just genuinely not know how to bring up such a sensitive subject.

On occasion the conversation went something like this: “So, you’re a boy?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright.”

And then for the rest of the year, the teacher proceeds to use the wrong pronouns for the rest of the year anyway.

To promote a safe and inclusive learning environment, district administrators should consider a professional development day to discuss situations that they may encounter relating to gay or transgender students.

Offering this learning opportunity will immensely help out staff and allow them to see how they can do their best to resolve conflicts. There’s plenty of times where I’ve been blatantly misgendered in front of the class and the teacher either looked uncomfortable or felt bad but didn’t take any action to solve the situation. I don’t blame the teacher

Ash Catalan

whatsoever. I know teachers care for their students, but if they don’t know what to do in a situation that they haven’t been prepared for, you can’t expect them to magically know what to do. Preparing staff and teachers for these awkward and embarrassing moments creates a space where LGBT students can rest easy knowing their teachers are willing to have their back anytime.

Opinions

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019 Page 9

Austin isn’t boring, you just need to search some more Mylo Bissell Editor-in-chief

nytime I try and plan with friends I am most often met with “I don’t know what to do” or “ there’s never anything to do”. Sure not everyone thinks that and you may now all be saying that no one ever says that but as the one in my friend group who does the coordinating for hangouts I promise people to think that and it gets in the way of things.

I mean trust me I get it I have lived in Austin for almost 13 years. The older you get the more you have to think about money and transportation to get to and from where you want to go and those are valid reasons to do the same thing every time. Plus sometimes it’s a lot of effort to go through to just want to chill with your friends and having a go-to like the mall where there is food and entertainment all in one place makes it easier.

But the fact of the matter is if you live in Austin there is always something fun to do a way to get there not to mention plenty of things that cost less than the mall.

Sure most things in Austin are expensive. The big-ticket events, like ACL and SXSW, cost an arm and a leg but there’s plenty of free music events that take place.

The Broken Spoke, a honky-tonk with free live music, is a great place to go to enjoy some good country music.

Not to mention Blues on the Green and the website Do 512 always has a list of free events that you can do. Simply go there and click through until you find something fun.

Got friends who enjoy each other’s company but all have wildly different interests?

Well thankfully if you find free things that

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Ash Catalan

they all have some kind of interest in you can use the free city bus to get around.

Yes, the city bus is free for students and a great way to find things to do. Grab your mom’s friend and your wild friend then just ride around for a little while. When someone spots something out the window they think it is interesting to get off and see what’s going on.

I often do this on the 801 and tend to get off in the South Congress (SoCo) area or near the museums on the UT campus.

On SoCo I always enjoy walking around and popping into stores and depending on how far you’re willing to go, sitting down on the capitol grounds and taking a second to breathe or have a good conversation is a perfect way to cool down when you’ve visited all of downtown. Then if you head down to the museums the Henry ransom center is free and full of beautiful things. Let’s say you’ve done SoCo and aren’t a museum person then hop off the 801 around 2nd street.

You can enjoy all the stores down there

and if you’re in the mood to (As Tom Haverford would say) treat yo’ self then see a show at the Violet Crown or if you need to do a little more saving and head to the central library and enjoy the various activities that take place in the teen center, or just enjoy the rooftop garden.

No matter what you and your friends enjoy there will always be something fun, inexpensive and accessible to do.

You just have to do it a little digging!

Things to do in Austin Music • Blues on the Green • Scoot Inn • Emo’s • Whip In

Outdoor • • • •

Zilker Park Auditorium Shores Barton Springs Capitol grounds

Streets in Austin • • • •

SoCo 2nd E 6th street South Lamar

Museums • • • •

The Blanton The Contemporary Bullock Henry Ransom Center

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Local entertainment

Page 10

Aspiring filmmaker shares her passion for storytelling zachary reyna Staff Writer

mma Lea Duncan is a student who is pursuing her passion for directing films and is getting started early. Emma is a junior and is already in Film Design 2 and is taking auditions and preparing for her future productions.

Duncan’s first film began when she was young with her grandpa.

“The first film I’ve ever made was, it was a Thanksgiving dinner. And I forced all my cousins to be in it. I was about maybe seven years old at the time and I stole my grandpa’s camera out of his truck and said, “Okay, let’s make it, let’s make a movie.”

So they all did and I started, my grandpa taught me how to edit.”

Other than her grandpa her favorite director is Steven Spielberg, the director of Jaws.

“My grandpa showed me the movie Jaws. Normal kids would be like, oh, a man getting eaten by a shark. That’s scary. My mind goes, a man getting eaten by a shark. That’s pretty cool. I wonder how they did that”.

Duncan said “people don’t realize that (Spielberg) is an extremely big part of the film.”

Duncan started the film design courses early than most other students at Akins because of her sheer determination to work in film. Normally, students have to wait until they are juniors before they can be in the Film 1 class, but she was able to join early as a teachers’ assistant.

Duncan isn’t exactly sure where her path in film will lead her, but she plans to be an educator helping the new generation of actors.

“A lot of people would think I would go into college for film, but I don’t want to do that. I want to go into college for theater director of education.”

However, she does plan to have a minor in film studies so she can keep producing movies on her own.

Outside of film she enjoys doing photography in her own time as a therapeutic thing.

“If I’m like, sad, I’ll go and walk around the block and take pictures of people and

E

Fin Lakey

A star in her own film

Emma Duncan and Hank Scaief perform in Emma’s short film The Wannabe. Emma played as Bryce and Scaief played Todd Rogers. things,” she said.

One of Duncan’s collaborators is senior Alexis Rebollar, who met her while writing scripts in the film class. Making films with classmates can be intense, he said.

“You actually have to put up with a lot of work but not to be negative,” he said. “I actually kind of enjoy it because you’re actually experiencing a challenge.”

Currently, Duncan is directing a short film called Every Day Since, which she wrote her self. The movie is a drama about two students with difficult home lives who find solace in each other. The film should be done and edited by winter break but still doesn’t have a deadline just yet.

Students pick out their most favoirte holiday movies Home Alone

The Nightmare Before Christmas The Polar Express

Selections and explantions are based on submissions to an online form distributed to students on Twitter and advisory class.

20th Century Fox

Home Alone is a teen/adult Christmas movie that is about a big family going off on a vacation for the holiday. One of the children is left behind at home on accident. Therefore he goes through the responsibility of having to do mature things. During this he is also trying to prevent his house from being robbed. Students like this movie because it has some comedy with a lot of action and a dash of the holiday spirit.

Disney

The Nightmare Before Christmas is about a skeleton named “Jack” who lives in a Halloween world.

One day he wanders off and comes across the many worlds of holidays. The Christmas door is the one that interests him. And that leads him into many adventures after throughout the movie. Students like this movie because it covers the two most popular holidays of the year which are Halloween and Christmas.

Warner Bros.

The polar express is a family friendly Christmas movie. This movie is about how the young children who are believers of Santa Clause are taken to the North Pole by the Polar Express train. One boy who is questioning his beliefs goes through his own separate adventures and eventually starts to believe again. Students like this movie because it is a Christmas movie that isn’t too childish and that they can enjoy.

Reviews

Page 11

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Double Tap revives Zombieland fandom after 10 years Anneliese olivo Staff Writer

ouble Tap is Rule #2 from the character named Columbus who explains that you should always put two more bullets in a zombie to make sure it is really dead.

Zombie movies are kind of like zombies. They always seem to rise, again, even when fans don’t seem to be clamoring for them to come back. I won’t be wanting to put two more bullets in this movie.

Ten years after the original Zombieland was released, fans are treated with Double Tap. This movie involves the fight against newly evolved zombies and the journey of the main characters trying to survive while meeting some interesting people along the way.

The story begins at the White House where the group decided to take shelter. A couple of the characters venture out but only one returns, leaving Little Rock missing. The group decides to go out and find Little Rock.

Along the way to find Little Rock, the group discovered the new “T-800” zombie named after the Terminator movies. These zombies are more evolved and dangerous, making them harder to kill and worrying the group about their safety and Little Rock. The movie cuts back and forth from showing the group in search of Little Rock and what adventures Little Rock is going through on her own. I found this sort of plot format good and bad. I feel the sense of

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suspense around the dangers that Wichita, Columbus, and Tallahassee are facing is interrupted by the constant cutting between the two storylines.

What was interesting was to see how the new characters of the movie turned into T-800 zombies and how hard it was to kill them. But there was a flaw with this plotline, the movie shows humans turning into zombies, and there is one specific character that shows signs of turning. However, the character shows up later in the movie alive and well, which was confusing for me and others. There is finally a reunion with the group but this wouldn’t be a good ending unless there was one more conflict to be faced.

The movie ends and the credits start rolling. Except Columbus interrupts it and shows us a flashback of the very first day of the zombie apocalypse and how it all started.

I loved this because now we have an insight into the very beginning. Double Tap turned out to be a decent movie.

There was a great amount of comedy mixed with action.

Although there were some flaws and the film was all over the place, it still had an easy to follow plot. I would recommend watching Zombieland: Double-tap. If a zombie apocalypse were to ever happen study Columbus’s list of rules for survival and always remember to “double-tap.”

Rating:

3 out of 5 feathers

Columbia Pictures

Apple Arcade gives us hundreds of games without ads Enrique camacho Staff Writer

A

pple Arcade is a new premium subscription gaming service that will let users who use Apple products to

download and play included games for a monthly fee of $4.99.

Family share will allow, up to six people can use it if purchased by at least one.

Apple is teaming up with indie devel-

Hot Lava is an adventure video game from a first-person perspective. You play as toys based on a cartoon. In the game, the player controls the character as they jump, wall run, and swing from object to object. The objects include tables, couches, and chairs. As you bounce around you collect cards that unlock cosmetic customization. The game’s worlds are all mundane rooms, from a high school gym to a hideous 80’s living room. But they’ve all been turned into deadly lava swimming pools. You can play with up to eight friends,competing with them for a spot on the leader board.

Rayman

Rating:

Rating:

5 out of 5 feathers

This service also has controller support so a Dualshock 4, X Box or Ninbus controllers can be connected for users to play via Bluetooth.

Skate City

Hot Lava

Klei Entertainment

opers and big-name companies to create new and exclusive games for the apple arcade service. The service has never before released games made mostly by indie developers for Apple TVs, Macs, and iPhones.

Agens

4 out of 5 feathers

Skate City is a 2D side scroller that takes players from left to right. Rails, ramps, and stairs can be utilized along the way to perform tricks, rewarding players with points and in-game currency which can be used to customize their skater and skateboard, unlock levels and tricks, and upgrade abilities. Obstacles are where players have to jump by swiping up to avoid them. It includes modes like Free Skate, where you can roam around and practice skating without having to do any missions. In this regard, it’s your standard skateboarding video game.

Rating:

Ubisoft

4 out of 5 feathers

Rayman is an adventure game where players are tasked to run through stages as quickly possible getting Rayman from one point to the next. Running along the way insects, plants, and mushrooms aid the hero in various ways. Rayman Mini features 48 levels, replete with bosses and unlockable outfits, featuring three playable characters, with different costumes to wear while adventuring the world. “Content and surprises” are promised throughout the coming year.

Rayman Mini will work on all supported IOS devices. Such as the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

InDepth

Page 12

Ash Catalan

Coping with Loss

School's staff and students deal with grief Dee Carreon

In-Depth Editor he daily grind of high school doesn’t usually factor in time to contemplate matters of life and death.

But death has a way of intruding into our lives and upending our routines. And for young people who have never experienced the death of someone close to them, it can be a particularly difficult experience to go through.

“When kids come up to you and are just sobbing, you lose it then,” Principal Tina Salazar said. “In this job so much is happening, I have to compartmentalize and then I have to give myself some time to really get to that and really allow myself to live that.”

September and October were particularly difficult for the Akins community after the death of a current student and a recent alum. The passing of Isaac Villafranca was particularly difficult because he was a senior who passed away relatively quickly after a surprise diagnosis of a rare disease.

HLH (or hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis) is a life-threatening disease that causes an overactive immune system. This over-activity causes too much inflammation in the body destroying not only infected and damaged cells but also the patient's own healthy tissues and organs including the liver, brain and bone marrow.

“By the time I showed up (at the hospital), he was already on life support and they were not allowing people to see him unless they were close family so I didn’t physically get to see him, but I did spend some time with his family in the waiting room,” said Christina Garcia-Mata, AVID teacher and Green Tech Academy Coordinator. “I probably spent a good 30minutes there with Ms. Delmore and Ms. Redland just trying to comfort them, see what they needed. We thought about bringing puzzles to his little cousins who were there. We had sent a get well card from his AVID classmates.”

Isaac Villafranca passed away later that night on Thursday, October 10.

“For me, it’s unfortunate,” said Garcia-Mata. “You go through different stages of grief, for sure. I was completely in disbelief because he came to me at one point just saying ‘hey, I’m going to be out. I have surgery. I should be back.’

It went from this very nonchalant ‘cool, I’m just getting this procedure done. Nothing serious,’ to ‘OK, he’s been to the hospital. He’s got cancer. Now he’s on life support.’ It just

T

went by so fast.”

The following week, Akins teachers learned about more tragic news. Christian Tienda, a 2014 Akins graduate, was hit by a car.

On Oct. 13, Tienda was critically injured after being hit by a driver in South Austin as he wsa using his motorized wheelchair near William Cannon Drive. Austin-Travis County EMS medics took him to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center with critical, life-threatening injuries.

Kari Janner, who teaches in the SCORES program, taught Tienda for many years when he was at Akins and was greatly saddened by the news.

“In my first year of teaching he was a junior, so I got to be his case manager and teacher for his junior and senior year of high school. I was with him at the graduation ceremony.”

Autism has a broad range of symptoms characterized by challenges with social skills, speech and nonverbal communication. Despite this, Tienda wasn’t hesitant in interacting with other people.

“One thing that was really special about Christian is that the last year that he was here, he would go out into the courtyard and if he saw a student sitting by themselves, he would make a point to try and go talk to them,” Janner said.

In addition to autism, Tienda had muscular dystrophy so he used a motorized wheelchair to get around.

“He needed a little help in graduation (specifically) maneuvering into the line so that he could cross the stage at the right time,” Janner said.

Tienda spent an extra year at Akins after he graduated so he could attend job training classes at Austin ISD’s Clifton program.

“Some kids who get special education services can stay longer in high school,” Janner said. “He went to this program at Clifton, he also still went to Akins but used a bus to take himself to Clifton.”

Clifton Career Development school offers students who receive special education on-the-job training and professional certifications. After attending Clifton for two years he went into the GO project at St. Edwards University, a community-based transition program for students with disabilities who are 18 to 22 years of age. Although he eventually transitioned to working with a case manager at the GO Project, he still kept in contact with Janner.

“We had a just had a special bond,” Janner said. “We kept up with each other after we were no longer seeing each other day to day. We became friends on Facebook. He always made a point to come back and visit.”

During September, Janner contacted Tienda for another meet up.

“We spent three or four hours together. I ended up driving him to check on his phone at the phone store,” Janner said.

“It ended up being a weird banking, credit card issue but he got it all figured out. We went over to the Tapioca Tea place and had tapioca tea.”

This would be the last time that Janner would spend with Tienda. On October 16, Christian Tienda passed away from the injuries he sustained in the accident. However, he even in death he helped others through an organ donation he made. Janner said his donation saved four lives.

“I always try to just be open,” Janner said. “We talk a lot in this class about our feelings. It was a really difficult week. (The students) could see that I was having a really difficult week. Some of them especially the seniors remembered him. Some of the students remember him coming in and visiting. We talked about how life was really precious and how sometimes we get caught up really trivial things.”

Indepth

Page 13

“

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Whether he was joining life groups, building relationships, serving as an usher, or volunteering with kids church, Christian never passed up an opportunity to serve.”

From his obituary

Christian Tienda

“

Isaac was a really sweet, funny, joyful person who had a great sense of humor and just was always in a great mood. Overall, if I had to some it up I’d say he was a sweetheart, genuinely, to anyone and everyone.”

Christina Garcia-Mata

AVID Teacher & Green Tech Academy Coordinator

Isaac Villafranca

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Gaming

Page 14

GAMING ON THE GO Big console games are moving to the mobile platform angel hernandez and robert ramos Staff Writers

onsoles and PC are dominant platforms where people play their video games, now many of the games that originated from those platforms are being converted to mobile. Games such as PUBG mobile, Fortnite, Call Of Duty Mobile, ARK: Survival Evolved, DOOM, Minecraft, Mario Kart Tour, and The Sims are examples of mobile games that were originally from console and PC. The graphics on mobile games may not be as good as they are on the console or PC but it allows gamers to play one of their favorite games on a portable device that happens to always be on their person. It also gives people who can’t afford a console or PC a chance to experience the game everyone is talking about and not be left out of the fun.

Most of the time games are made for single-player, but when games introduce multiplayer settings, the games get more exciting and fun.

Minecraft, PUBG mobile, Call Of Duty mobile, and Fortnite are games that have a multiplayer setting that allows people to play with friends or with other people around the world. Fortnite and Minecraft are a good example of this because it introduces cross-platform. This allows mobile gamers to play with people who play from other consoles like Xbox, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Whether it be a made-for-iOS controller or Bluetooth console controller there are some games that support the use of a controller to increase comfortability.

The use of a controller for mobile games allows the user to experience what they would if they were to play on a console. It also gives the user a comfortable way to play other than jamming many fingers on to the phone screen that will end up blocking the gameplay. Some of the games that support the controller on mobile are Fortnite, Ark: Survival Evolved, and GTA: San Andreas.

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Mario Kart Tour:

One of the most recent games to be adapted onto mobile is Mario Kart Tour. This game is an adaption from the Nintendo game series of Mario Kart. On the phone, it doesn’t have the same feeling or fairness as the original ones.

The game introduces a microtransaction function that gives players the option to purchase rubies. You can use rubies to buy certain characters, cars, and gliders that give point advantages and the number of abilities to be held on the corresponding race track. Or you can use those same rubies to grant access to a Coin Rush game mode that allows the user to enter a course with plenty of coins you can collect. This will also let you gain new characters, cars, and gliders.

Although the game lets you add friends, it doesn’t allow you to play with them as of yet, the only thing that is possible is checking the score they have earned in a ranking system,

Timi Studios

the game resets weekly. The ranking system allows the player to earn rubies without spending their money. Every 2 weeks the game makes a new theme, cup courses, and challenges.

This is a good feature the game has because the player gets to experience things that weren’t there before and also allows them to try and get new items the game has to offer.

Call Of Duty:

Another Console to mobile game is Call Of Duty. It is a free to play first-person shooter game developed by TiMi studios and published by Activision for Android and iOS. The graphics are amazing for this being a mobile game. But although this mobile version is fun once you play it at first. You start to realize that you either win or lose and that’s all there is to this game, therefore, it gets boring.

The controls aren’t as easy to use on a mobile device as they are to use on an actual controller for a regular gaming console. It can be hard for new gamers to learn how to use and get used to it. While returning gamers may dislike these controls because they are so used to playing with a controller.

Call Of Duty would be better if it let you play with real people rather than bots. Which leads me to believe that this game won’t last long and soon people will start to get tired of it.

Overall mobile gaming has its pros and its cons. Although there are games that convert to mobile and work very well. There are a few strays that do not fit into the mobile trend.

So do some experimenting and find the console to mobile games that fit right for you.

Pop-culture

Page 15

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Say goodbye to online Flash games before 2020 ends Frank duran Staff Writer

IP Adobe Flash Player.

You were a big part of my youth. You were the engine that powered many of my favorite time-killing online games that I played at school when teachers were not looking. You were a great escape from boredom and I will always remember the joy you brought to me since I first met you in middle school.

That’s right. By the end of December 2020, most of the Flash games we grew up playing on Cool Math Games and many other sites will no longer be supported by modern Internet browsers.

Web developers use Flash to support animations and videos when browsing the Web. However, open Web standards like HTML5 have become the favored method of supporting multimedia and interactive content.

In July 2017, Adobe announced that it would completely end support for Flash in December 2020. Browser makers were years ahead of Adobe’s announcement because Flash is seen as a general security problem, according to an article published on Redmond Magazine.

They’ve already initiated efforts to restrict Flash from running in browsers, except with user consent. The current Google Chrome browser will block Flash and use HTML5 by

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default, while the current Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge browsers will make users request Flash activation before running it. Flash is turned off by default for Apple’s Safari browser.

So for web users like you and me, this means that a lot of free online games are not going to work anymore. Games like Jacksmith and games like Bloxorz these games are not going to be able to be played anymore.

What is sad is that there are a lot of classic Flash games that will just no longer work after December 2020. Many of us grew up playing Cool Math Games because they were the only online games that didn’t get blocked by the district filters.

When I was in 7th grade, a few of my favorite games to play were Crazy Taxi M-12, Cargo Bridge and IsoTera Braly ball X-1.

And then when I got to high school I secretly played Learn to fly 2 when my teachers weren’t looking to kill time.

Many of these games will become obsolete and will never be converted to work on HTML 5 based browsers. There are new online games that are just as fun or even better than these old Flash games, but it is always sad to see a piece of one’s childhood disappear.

So you have been warned. You have a little over a year to play as much Jacksmith, Factory Balls or Bloxorz before they disappear from the web forever.

Louisiana and rappers are overlooked in the rap game jaime rios

Staff Writer hile the sound of the southern hip hop has traditionally been dominated by artists coming out of Atlanta and Houston, there is a third city that should be on the radar of any rap fan.

Artists like Lil Baby, Gunna, Young Thug, and Gucci Mane from Atlanta are rappers that tend to get the most attention, but the artists coming out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana are producing some music that will likely soon take over the rap scene.

Louisiana has a new sound where the artist mix rapping with singing and listeners are going crazy over it. A few artists that have already gained notoriety are Kevin Gates, Nba Youngboy, Jaydayoungan, and Lil Boosie. These artists have put Louisiana on the map and creating their own unique sound that other artists try, but can’t pull off.

Parts of Baton Rouge have high rates of poverty and crime, making them tough places to grow up and live in. All artists grow up too early, saying that they were too young to feel the pain they were feeling. These artists lost family and even grew up in an environment where selling drugs and robbing was normal.

These artists are not afraid to rap or sing about their pain, letting listeners relate to this music. AI Youngboy 2, Misunderstood, and I’m Him are three new projects that these artists put out for me.

I’ve been a Nba Youngboy fan forever so I would recommend listening to AI Youngboy 2 first. “Growing up in Baton Rouge was a challenge. It’s all about staying alive. There’s no hiding from gun violence, ain’t no living out there it’s either live or die”.

“What makes me stand out is I got my own swagger and I came in the game with my money right and I got my own style no one can copy or gimmick it,” said Kevin Gates.

“My sound is so different because people don’t just listen to me for the beat they listen for the lyrics they like what I have to say,” says Jaydayoungan. Lil Boosie says in Baton there’s nothing but him and he got deeper into the streets whenever his dad passed away when

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Greg Noire

A big Jmblya performance

Louisiana rapper Kentrall DeSean Gaulden but known for is stage name Nba Youngboy performs Never Broke Again. This was at the Jmblya music festival that was held in Fair Park, Dallas Texas.

Boosie was 14. “I got tired of seeing my mom struggling by herself so I got up off my ass and made something happen.”As you can tell these artists have been through trials and tribulations and hell and back give these artists a chance I promise you won’t regret it you’ll feel the pain in there lyrics and sound.

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

SPORTS

Page 16

Wealth disparity in schools creates major advantages Diego Gutierrez Sports Editor

ocioeconomic status has nothing to do with catching a football. But according to recent reporting from the Austin American-Statesman, money can have a big effect on whether teams win or lose football games.

Schools like Westlake, Lake Travis and Cedar Park highs schools (all examples of schools with low student poverty rate) over the past 10 years have average winning percentages exceeding 75%. These schools and others like them across the state consistently make the playoffs, compete for state year after year and annually send kids to the next level. Schools like Navarro, Crockett, Akins, Lehman and Northeast high school all have a student poverty rate at or above 60% and winning percentages under 30%, according to the Statesman reporting.

While no amount of money is going to make the game-winning block, pick, throw, run or kick for you, it can definitely give teams an advantage. And superior training equipment can definitely provide an unfair advantage.

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At wealthy schools equipment is getting replaced every four years instead of the standard 10. Booster clubs are bringing in over $150,000 a year and some teams have a full-blown pro-level practice facility. Meanwhile, high-poverty schools have 20-year-old strength equipment and have to split time in the gym with other sports.

The way the University Interscholastic League draws districts by size and distances means that teams like Akins constantly have to play against schools like Westlake and Lake Travis that have huge advantages when it comes to wealth. It is simply not a level playing field.

Schools with higher poverty rates don’t have booster clubs bringing in exuberant amounts of money. They can’t afford the luxury of going to restaurants after games or to replace helmets and pads at the same rate as the wealthier schools, it’s not fair.

The resources of the wealthier schools allow their players to eat better, condition better and practice better than the poorer schools and it’s leading to them playing better than them.

This is where “white flight” comes into play. It is a term for the mass exodus of a majority of the well off white residents of a given city from the inner cities to the surrounding areas. This creates suburbs where

Diego

they can keep their bond issue money to build massive stadiums and where they can control all the variables to build sporting powerhouses.

Obviously, nothing can be done to stop or undo the white flight that’s birthed school districts like Lake Travis and Eanes so what’s the solution? How do we remedy this? I have no idea, I wish I knew a simple fix. I wish it were as simple as moving some numbers here or putting a cap on spending there but there isn’t one.

This economic mismatch is a result of schools continuing to be woefully underfunded which isn’t going away and a by-product of systemic racism which also

rrez

Gutie

isn’t going away. States like Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington have tried to fix this by putting policies in place that redraw the divisions based on student poverty level. While some coaches in Texas have championed the idea, the reality is that this destroys the competitive nature of the game. The players will always feel like they’re less than if they’re told by the UIL that they just can’t compete at the highest levels.

Until we adequately fund public schools in Texas, all you have to do see our broken public education system is look for those Friday night lights.

Tennis team looks to rebound following a slow season Andrew Martinez Life & Style Editor

enior Andy Doan is looked to as a leader on the Akins tennis team, Doan does his best to help any of his fellow teammates better their skills in the game.

“Whenever it comes down to it, he’s ready to go through the same motion with you over and over again and make sure you really understand it and fully grasp the technique that is necessary to excel.” Said senior Samuel Kopp.

Now, in his senior year, he has collected a great amount of knowledge, such as new moves, and has a better understanding of the game.

“I learned how there’s... Different angles,...your foot has to be pointing towards [and] a certain distance away from the net in order to clear a ball, like how high goes over the net,” he said.

With the fall season behind him, Doan reflected on the highs and lows with his eyes set on finishing strong during the spring season.

“I’m personally kind of disappointed because we didn’t do as good as I was hoping,” Doan said. “We got, I believe, fifth in the district, but I believe we could have got top four.”

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Now that most of the team is made up of seniors, they have more outside responsibilities that make it difficult to focus on tennis.

Doan explained how he split his time between homework and tennis, that he would have to dedicate certain days for just tennis and would stay up late finishing homework. As a result, Doan couldn’t put as much time into his season as he would’ve liked.

“You just have a lot of the stress that just takes time off of tennis and more towards school,” Doan said.

The upcoming spring season will be the last for a majority of the tennis team, Doan said this will be a major motivator for spring.

“We definitely are picking up this season. I believe the fall season was more like a test season to see how we are,” he said. “Because a majority of the tennis team is comprised of seniors. And we’re like, this is our last year and you’re making the best one.”

Doan is seen as a role model with the underclassmen.

“I really looked at him and tried to learn something, like to concrete on my game as much as possible. So I can reach his level one day.” Underclassmen Yarin Polyakob commented.

Doan said he has a lot of faith in the underclassmen players who are coming up to be leaders in the future. Spe-

Andrew Martinez

Practice Makes perfect

Senior Andy Doan practices his serve.

Doan and the Akins Tennis team head into the spring season hoping to bounce back from a lackluster fall season.

cifically pointing out sophomores Jacques Carandang and Yarin Polyakob.

“They remind me of myself,” he said. “They’re helping me stay committed.”

“Once we leave, they will be ready. They’ll be a top, a powerhouse.” Doan said.

SPORTS

Page 17

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Inside the world of Cheerleading

Cheerleading requires the full devotion of an athlete Greg Roque Staff Writer

eing a cheerleader is not all pom-poms and backflips.

It’s also hours of learning choreography, rehearsing cheers and entertaining large crowds.

Cheerleaders have many demands placed upon them much like any other athlete, despite this, cheerleading does not always receive the respect that it deserves.

Cheerleaders at Akins are expected to be there to rally the crowds at football and basketball games as well as lead students in cheers and chants at pep rallies. And then there are the injuries that result when there are falls or when stunts go wrong.

The Akins cheerleaders typically practice two hours a day, four or five days a week.

Just like the athletes they cheer for, the cheerleaders strive to stay positive even when the outcomes of the games don’t go in their favor.

Junior Ariana Gonzalez, who has been a cheerleader since freshman year, said she wanted to be a cheerleader so she could serve as a leader on campus.

“I wanted to represent my school and be known as a leader and be known by people,” she said. “I like being peppy and performing at pep rallies in games and participating in my school.”

She said that cheerleading is like a team sport because it takes a whole squad to be successful in keeping a crowd’s spirits high.

“You have to have a good attitude. You can’t put your other teammates down,” she said.

Junior Kyleigh Gonzalez, who has been a cheerleader for two years, said she wanted to be a cheerleader for Akins because she wanted to belong to a team dedicated to having fun.

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“I’m wanting to belong to something like wanting to be a part of a team and going to games and like showing school spirit because a lot of people don’t. I feel like it’s important.”

Gonzalez said being a good cheerleader requires determination in the face of adversity.

“You need to be determined and willing to work with other people and be able to take constructive criticism in a good way,” she said.

Junior Sariya Harmon, who transferred to Akins, said being a cheerleader has helped her make new friends and meet other people.

“I was new to Akins so I really just wanted to meet new people,” Harmon said team spirit is important for cheerleaders.

“If one person is in a bad mood, then the whole team’s in a bad mood,” she said.

Junior Marissa Almaraz, has been a cheerleader since she was six years old and she says it takes devotion to make a cheerleading squad successful.

“To be successful, you have to grow and progress so when everyone has that hard-working attitude, you’re constantly growing, and you constantly getting better,” Almaraz said.

Although sideline cheerleading is not an officially labeled a sport, Akins cheerleaders agree that it takes a high degree of dedication and a positive mindset to be successful just like that of winning sports teams.

Cheer Coach Jordyn Marsh said she sees her role as guiding the team to move forward no matter what it encounters.

“I think a good coach is someone who’s able to balance being both serious and also make cheer enjoyable.” Marsh said.

Josh Guerrero contributed to this story.

Diego Gutierrez

The Team cheers on

Junior Marrissa Almaraz (center) Cheer Captain and the rest of the cheer team energize the crowd at the Akins Homecoming game. The cheer program welcomed new Coach Jordyn Marsh this year.

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

SPORTS

Page 18

Cross Country program Grows despite missing district Oscar Navarro Staff Writer

hen the Akins cross country team crossed the finish line at the district meet in October, the team finished a journey full of ups and downs as well as accomplishments.

Unfortunately, the finish line at the district was the last one they crossed as a team this fall season as they narrowly missed the opportunity to advance to the regional meet.

In order to qualify for regional competitions, Akins’ cross country team would have had to place in the top three. The team fought hard to maintain the No. 3 spot but the losses to Austin High and Westlake dropped them out of that slot. Although they did not reach further than just the in-district meets, Coach Fransico Flores is still very proud of the team.

“We did not reach our goal to compete out of district but we did reach our goal to grow our program, actually, we grew twice as much,” Flores said.

He said he is also proud of the expansion of the girls’ team, which has grown to from 14 last year to 21 runners this season.

“I am proud of how the girl’s team has grown with younger runners to help them build and be competitive ready for next

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year.”

Senior Matthew Quiroz, who has run for the cross country team since he was a freshman, said he is proud of his career on the cross country team, but there were some disappointments this year.

“We had a great regular season but during the district meets it felt like we were falling apart,” he said.

He said he is still is incredibly proud of the cross country team even though it seemed like the runners were running out of gas in the tank towards the end.

Quiroz has been in cross country for the past four years when asked what made him come back to run every year he said, “Ever since I was young I’ve enjoyed running. It felt like a given to do the sport,” he said.

Junior, Diego Hernandez, said he believes the team has great growth potential and hopes to lead them to regionals for the 2020 season. He said he hopes to improve the bond with his teammates.

Hernandez, who recorded the fastest time at Akins this season with a 17:19.4 at the district meet, described his performance this season as a “rollercoaster.”

“At the beginning it was bad but it got better and better,” he said.

He has said that cross country has helped him mentally and physically and he is de-

Luke Becerra

Striving for the finish

Seniors Matthew Quiroz (left) and Jacob Hannon (right) round a corner, pushing for the finish. Quiroz and Hannon ran their last race as Eagles at the regional level and now are looking towards a dominant track season.

termined to help the team be where they should be, at the top of the ranks. Keep an eye out for Diego Hernandez next year as he seeks to break the 17-minute time in the 5k.

Although cross-country did not reach their goal of reaching regionals, they did reach their goal of involving more female runners. Junior, Kaelyn Childers, was also proud and surprised with the turn out of girls this year.

“We don’t ever have like a lot of girls on the team so we’re like always short on girls,”

she said.

Childers said she encourages girls to get involved in cross country.

“Show coach that you’re willing to run and willing to participate. And anyone can join. Anyone should join. It’s really fun.

You get to bond with your teammates.”

Childers said she plans to continue to demonstrate her leadership skills by helping the younger runners keep improving their times and get them ready to reach regionals with a successful 2020 season.

Senior leadership honored to finish volleyball season Evelyn Moreno Staff Writer

eniors Zola Schemenauer-Moore and Kayla Muñoz were the heart and soul of the Akins Varsity volleyball team this season.

Over this past season, Schemenauer-Moore and Muñoz have shared the responsibility of being leaders on the team because they are the only two seniors.

They motivate other players to try their best and not give up.

Schemenauer-Moore and Muñoz let their younger teammates know that they’re even better than they thought they could be individually. Many players look up to them because of the skills they bring to the table. Many of the underclassmen are trying to learn from them.

“They never come off the court. Great leaders and work extremely hard. Our team wouldn’t be a team without these two,” head volleyball coach Amanda Thomas said.

They feel like they are under a lot of pressure, being the ones leading the team, but they are managing

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the load together and working together to help their team.

“There’s been about like, probably seven or eight seniors graduating per year and now that it’s only two, a lot of the pressure is just kind of on us,” Muñoz said. “The pressure used to be spread around the team, and now we just have to go out and play our best.”

Even through the stress they feel while trying to lead the team, they are also very proud of themselves and how the team has come together.

“With that kind of stress that’s put on us it is definitely hard but I’m glad to be a part of the team and doing this,” Zola Schemenauer-Moore said.

As they are graduating this year they want to keep pushing the team forward and give them some motivation and strengths for the incoming year and plays.

“I give the team talks before and get them on a positive mindset and everything. And when people make mistakes on the court, I just tell them to try to make it up with the next pass or the next hit or the next serve and just giving them positive feedback that they need to hear,” Moore said.

Diego Gutierrez

SEniors in action

Seniors Zola Schemenauer-Moore (11) and Kayla Muñoz (5) move to play a ball in mid air. They played their final game as Eagles against Del Valle.

Life K Style Story behind infamous Revenge X Storm shoes Page 19

Rhett Moore Staff Writer

he self-proclaimed “King of the Youth” Ian Connor is one of the most accomplished and influential artists in the social media era.

From stylist to fashion designer to model to videographer to rapper, Connor has fashioned himself as a social media icon.

Connor was born in 1993 in New York City but moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 2002 when he was 9. Five years later, he dropped out of high school in the ninth grade. Connor has claimed that he does not know who his father is and has a disconnected relationship with his mother. While in school, Connor found interest in fashion, skateboarding, and hip-hop.

After turning 18, he moved back to New York City, and built a following on Tumblr posting videos and pictures of his friends, fashion, and girls. With his unique style and persona, he amassed a following that would catch the eyes of many. One of those was the budding fashion designer Glyn Brown. The two would work together on a streetwear start-up called “L3NF.” In 2013, Connor met Theophilus London and was an early mentor for him in his young modeling career. Through London, Connor met Kanye West and began working under him. He eventually became

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West’s stylist and appeared as a model in Yeezy Season 2 and 3.

In 2014, Connor was introduced to A$AP Bari and worked as a visual collaborator for the A$AP Mob. In 2015, Connor used his social media reach to bring Playboi Carti to the forefront of the SoundCloud wave that was just beginning to gain massive popularity. He would later become Carti’s manager and stylist which would influence his decision to sign with A$AP Mob’s AWGE label because Connor was already apart of the A$AP crew.

These allegations did not stop Connor from releasing his infamous Revenge X Storm shoes that would absolutely take the entire hip-hop fashion culture by storm in 2017.

The hype around these shoes would only grow larger after many Instagram models posted pictures of them wearing the shoes, one of those being Kylie Jenner.

People have criticized these shoes as $200 ripoffs because they look similar to the classic low-top Vans.

Connor has said that these shoes are remixes of his favorite shoes — the Old Skool Vans, adding his own creative spin on them.

Connor is not without controversy. After finding tremendous success in the fashion and hip-hop world, Connor was accused of rape by six women and 21 have collectively come out against him. And in July, Connor was convicted

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

limited edition shoes

Akiharu Ichikawa

Artist Ian Connor posing for a photo at his Tokyo pop-up. on multiple gun charges, resulting in a 12-month jail sentence.

Backpack essentials necessary for every day use Kalani White Staff Writer

hether it be their phone, their wallet, or their lucky pen, there are some things that a person can’t go a day without, or their day is ruined. Here are some of those crucial items.

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No. 1 on the list are, of course, phones. When asked what they couldn’t go a day without, the first thing most students said was, my phone. It seems the small computer has become a crucial part of everyone’s day, embedding itself in everyone’s code to daily happiness. “My phone is like my everything or like my uh connection to everything.” Sophomore Lilliana Boon said. And surely all students agree.

Along with accessories, some students can’t leave without their makeup. “Oh also I can’t leave without my makeup bag.” Boon added. On their face or in their bag, for touch ups or to do it later, products like mascara, concealer, blush, etc.- are a must have to feel put together and ready to take one the day (or night) to come.

Hand in hand with clothing, some students can’t leave the house without certain accessories, whether it be a special hat, ring(s), scarf, necklace(s), etc. It could be that some sentimental items are too precious to be left at home, even for a day, or it could be the routine and familiarity of having it on that you feel bare without it. “I can not leave the house without my jewelry” said Senior Desirae

Some students (especially those in sports, cheerleading, and dancing) said they can’t leave the house without an extra pair of clothing item(s), in case of sweat, mud/dirt, water, or the normal wear and tear that working out does to your clothes. Sophomore Amanda Barajas, of the dance team, said: “I can’t leave the house without my socks because I don’t like beetles and sticks.”

Life K Style Austin Corps gives students firsthand education Page 20

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Austin Rutledge Opinions Editor

here are courses at Akins that can be interpreted and observed as an experience rather than a class. The Austin Corps program happens to be one of those courses.

Instead of sitting in a class and having a teacher lead students through lessons, Austin Corp takes students on regular field trips (sometimes twice a week) to various spots around Austin to learn how local government works. In the fall semester, the students have the opportunity to visit multiple Austin departments like parks, police stations, and the library.

Social studies teacher Linda O’Neal, who runs the Austin Corps program said that she believes the program is an eye-opening experience for students.

“I think a lot of people are unaware of all the things that the city does for its people,” she said. “And I think a lot of students don’t realize that there is a place in this city for everyone, whether you’re interested in art, computers, math. There’s a place for everyone in the city. In the city, everyone plays a part.”

The City of Austin has a workforce of more than 13,500 in more than 40 departments that offer a range of services. The Austin Corps internship program allows Austin ISD students to tour and job shadow at various city offices throughout the

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lessons learned

school year.

O’Neal said she hopes the tours the students have taken this fall will help students realize some of the job opportunities that exist within the local city government.

“I think that this is an incredible opportunity for students,” she said. “I think the City of Austin is a wonderful place to work.

I hope that I get more students interested in interning with the City of Austin through this program because there’s something for everyone in this program.”

This class helps students who are not sure what they want to do after high school, many City of Austin employees didn’t go to college with some making six-figure salaries. Austin Corp is all about the opportunity for students to explore their options after high school.

Senior Ciro Diaz said he thinks Austin Corps is a great class for anyone who is unsure about what career they want to pursue after high school. “ It’s really informative. It’s opened up my eyes set of things that I could possibly do after high school,” he said.

Another benefit from this program is students get to have the first-hand experience with working with the city, something students can put on any resume. O’Neal said she hopes more students will get involved in local government.

Andrew Martinez

Students in the Austin Corps class listen to municipal court judge staff during a field trip in downtown Austin.

interviewing

Austin Rutledge

Students in Austin Corp conducting a interview with artist Vincent Valdez in Houston, Texas.

Austin Corps offers lessons in social justice through art hen Austin Corps students are not busy touring city offices and learning about local government, they are working to investigate the relationship between artists and social justice.

Social studies teacher Linda O’Neal has worked with the Texas Folklife a non-profit organization for several years and found a way to incorporate art into the Austin Corps program for the first time this year.

Students have been learning about various artists from Austin and beyond.

Many of these artists have work showcased all over the city and in public places such as City Hall or the Blanton Museum of Art. All of their work has some commentary about America’s history with race and equality.

Five Akins students traveled to Houston in early October to meet an artist named Vincent Valdez. He is most well-known for his piece depicting a group of Klu Klux Klan in robes and hoods overlooking a metropolis at night known as “The City.” The piece is in the archives in Austin’s Blanton

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Museum of Art. Senior Elizabeth Glina said she was thrilled to meet such a recognized artist.

“That was really cool because I felt like it was kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity, it’s still an experience interviewing somebody who is so well known,” she said.

David McClinton is another artist the Austin Corps students met. He discussed various pieces of his work focused on systemic racism in America.

Austin rapper Lench Martinez visited the Austin Corps class to share how he confronts social justice issues through his music. Lench has made music videos about local issues such as gentrification and race relations relating to Austin’s past with racism. Lench also has aspirations of running for Austin mayor in the coming years.

All the artists share a similar vision of how they express themselves and their beliefs, their art styles.

Life K Style

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Page 21

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R A C

NO

M E L PROB

Students find alternate ways to travel without a car Kayden harnett Staff Writer nce upon a time, owning a car was the primary goal of almost every teenager.

From the 1950s to about 2010, owning a car was a gateway to independence that so many teenagers desire to have. It allowed them to get around town on their own and get away from their parents.

However, in recent years, new technology like smartphones and online platforms like competitive gaming, have made teens think twice about their priorities when it comes to spending their cash. Teens seem to invest more of their time and money in the latest phone or gaming console then getting a car. Also, new methods of transportation in Austin have made it easier for teens to forgo purchasing a car because they have more options now.

If you have ever been in downtown Austin, chances are you’ve seen multiple different types of electric scooters, the most common being the Lime and Bird brand electric scooters.

For the Lime scooters, it is just $1 to unlock the scooter and then it’s just 40 cents per minute and can go up to about 15 miles per hour while Bird prices are anywhere from 10 cents to 30 cents after it is unlocked.

Both scooter brands have an app to help you locate the nearest scooters that are not being used. When riders are done with the scooters they don’t have to take them anywhere specific. Riders can just leave them almost anywhere.

This has lead to some problems because some are left in the middle of sidewalks, blocking the paths of pedestrians and causing complaints.

On the plus side, electric scooters are affordable and low-stress on where you can find and leave them. Rider safety is a concern because there have been reports of serious injuries because people will ride them in busy streets without safety equipment.

Spin and Jump are other options for those who would rather ride a rental bike than a scooter. And if you just need a ride from Point A to Point B you can always use a ride hailing service like Uber or Lyft.

Besides electric scooters, another alternative is the city

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loading up

Andrew Martinez

Akins students board a city bus after school at the bus stop on First Street. Captiol Metro bus service is one of many options students use to get around town without a car. bus, which is free to Austin ISD students if they have they show.

And if you don’t have your ID badge, it is just $1.25, for a one-day bus pass it is just $2.50. For a one-week bus pass it costs $11.25, and if you want to ride for a full month, it costs $41.25.

One thing to be aware of is that if you have to pay to ride the bus without a pass or an ID badge is that you have to pay the $1.25 in coins or cash because you can’t use a credit card. One disadvantage to the city bus is that they are a bit time consuming because the buses go to more than onestop at a time. But the clear advantage is how far you can go and the huge variety of bus stops all over town. The CapMetro app can help you plan out your route before you get on the bus to make sure you get off and plan any transfers you have to make.

A big plus side of the buses and electric scooters is that it can help reduce traffic in the city. Each city bus has 32 seats and plenty of room for standing just in case all of the

seats are full.

According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, In 2018, people rode scooters about 38.5 million times across the country.

According to Community Impact Newspaper, there were about 3.01m people that ride the city bus in 2018.

Although there are more transportation options in Austin, there are some still who would prefer to have a car.

“I find the city buses convenient because it is free with students but I wouldn’t pick it over a car,” sophomore Ryan Wright said. “The scooters are pretty fun and cool but not something I would depend on.”

He prefers to use the electric scooters then riding the city bus. Choice of transportation also depends on what party of the city you want to travel to.

Sophomore Dean Tamayo said he prefers to use the scooters when he is downtown.

“If you’re going through downtown I’d take the scooter over a car because it is easier to get around,” Tamayo said.

Photo essay Portable classrooms lead to permanent problems The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Page 22

Portable Predicament

Amora Arriaga

water damage

Stained ceiling tiles show evidence of the constant leaks that occur in the portable classrooms. Sometimes the leaks turn into a drip that has to be caught in trashcans.

Amora Arriaga Photo Editor

t any given moment there are about 1,000 students in the portable classrooms at Akins.

That means that with a student population of about 2,700 students, more than a third of the campus population is in a substandard classroom.

The portables have become a permanent part of the campus despite them being added as a temporary solution to a campus overpopulation problem.

Misty Lindsay, Social Services Academy coordinator, has had a classroom in the portables for 17 years.

“Instead of coming and repairing the actual roof leaks, they just sort of bandage up the things that are damaged from the water, but then they deteriorate again,” she said.

The deteriorating condition of the portables has shown no signs of improving.

Education teacher Cecilia Gutierrez, who has taught in the portable classrooms since 2005, said the rooms are also a lot smaller than

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Amora Arriaga

hanging low

Ceiling tiles hang low after years of water damage and repairs and temporary fixes.

This tile is in ____ room, causing concern among students in the room.

classrooms in the main building.

“Our rooms are smaller than the rooms in the classrooms, so that’s a big deal,” she said.

Horticulture teacher Jennifer Urea said that career programs like hers simply do not have adequate facilities that students deserve. Some of the problems include A/C units that don’t work, the lack of a sink with running water and wasps that take shelter under the ramps.

“Try to run two floral units in a classroom with no working A/C,” she said.

The teachers that have been in the portables for more than a decade said they believe it is time for the school district to develop a permanent solution to replace the portables.

Lindsey said shes knows that there is not an easy solution for the district budget writers, but that something needs to happen soon.

“We’ve watched New Tech (wing) get built. We’ve watched STEM (wing) get built. And we’ve sat in these portables waiting for our turn.

So I think the teachers out here do feel like our educational environment is less than.”

Amora Arriaga

broken tile & Rotten Wood

Broken floor tiles and rotting wood show evidence of the damage that occurs when When it rain water drains down through the walls to the floor.

Photo Essay

Page 23

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Amora Arriaga

Amora Arriaga

Risky Ramp

The slates that make up the platform between the portable classrooms are facing the wrong direction causing them to have no traction, leading to slips and falls by students.

Bee Barto

the larger view

With about 20 portable classrooms in use, the area is large enough to feel like a separate school from the rest of the campus.

Patch it Up

Amora Arriaga

Patches on the gutter pipes above classroom doors show evidence of constant temporary repairs on the outside of the portable classrooms.

hole in the floor

A hole in the floor in RM 313 shows the wear and tear of water damage and students over the years.

repairs needed

Amora Arriaga

Gutter pipes on the ground show evidence of needed temporary fixes. Maintenance request can go unanswered for long periods of time.

Difficult path

Amora Arriaga

Students with disabilities are forced to go to the far side or the campus to reach a ramp to access the portable classrooms.

Life K Style

Page 24

The Eagle’s Eye November 11, 2019

Recipes to cook for Thanksgiving Empanadas Ingredients • • •

Mylo Bisell

Co-Editor-in-Chief

•

Ash Catalan

Co-Editor-in-Chief

•

Thanksgiving is probably one of the most awaited holidays in a lot of families. Being together and eating tons of food makes the holiday incredibly memorable. But when we see Thanksgiving on TV it’s shown as your stereotypical turkey, stuffing, pie and cranberry sauce. From shows like Friends to Bob’s Burgers there’s not much variation in what is shown as possible dishes to make and enjoy. Here’s four “unconventional” options to make for your family this Thanksgiving.

• •

Directions 1.

2.

3.

Arroz con leche

4.

Ingredients

• • • • • • •

5.

1 ½ cups water 3-4 sticks of cinnamon 2 cups rice 1 can condensed sweetened milk 1 can evaporated milk 2 cups milk Garnishes: Raisins and cinnamon powder

6.

2.

3.

• • • • •

•

Ingredients

• •

Heat oil over medium heat and fry the plantains till golden brown all over (3-5 mins). Using a pilón (wooden mortar) mash the plantain, garlic, and cracklings together (You might have to do it in small batches and mix in the end).

Shape into 6 balls and place in small bowls.

Serve garnished with the beef stock.

1 cup oil to fry in 4 unripe plantains peeled, cut into slices

2.

3.

4.

Ingredients

• • • • •

A half pound of cracklins, fried pork belly or crushed pork rinds

Start by slicing the plantains into rounds then heating the oil and frying them.

In another pot start boiling the broth Once the plantains are golden brown mash them and add the broth, garlic and cracklins.

OPTIONAL: Add grown beef and cilantro

Cinnamon Pie •

•

Directions 1.

8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 cup brown sugar, packed 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 1/2 table-

Salt, to taste Pepper, to taste ½ teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon oregano pastry/tapas for empanada (goya brand the best) Optional: caldo de res flavoring cube, dissolved in water

Prepare your mise en place by chopping your vegetables and heating up a medium-sized saucepan with olive oil.

Saute your onion and garlic until you achieve some golden.

Add in ground beef and the rest of your chopped vegetables, herbs, and spices. Break up the beef to ensure even cooking.

Once your beef has begun to cook thoroughly and your vegetables are mostly cooked, add in your can of tomato sauce.

Allow your meat to simmer until beef is brown, vegetables are withered, and not too much liquid is in the pan besides tomato sauce.

Assembly: using a spoon, scoop meat onto pastry, being sure to not over pack. Close up pastry end to end and seal the edges with a fork. Fry in vegetable oil until you achieve a nice golden color and serve.

Mofongo

Directions 1.

1lb ground beef ½ red pepper, diced ½ green bell pepper, diced 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely ½ white onion, diced 1 can tomato sauce Small handful cilantro, chopped finely

• • • •

spoons ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg 1 pie crust, or store-bought

Directions 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Preheat oven to 350, roll and refrigerate the pie crust Beat the cream cheese and brown sugar until fluffy (3-5 minutes) then scrape the bowl Beat in the eggs then scrap the sides of the bowl and add the rest of the ingredients Pour mixture into the pie crust and bake for 35 minutes until it is set when jiggled but not completely firm cool completely chill and Enjoy!